We all want a nice, cold freezer to store our food inside. However, when you notice frost building up inside the freezer, it may feel like a serious problem. While that may very well be the case, it can be due to simple problems that can be fixed right there at home.

What Might Be Wrong? 

If ice is building up in the freezer, the cause could involve something as simple as an open freezer door or a door gasket problem, or it could involve problems in the defrost cycle or a failing component of the defrost system.  Let’s get into why you have ice building up in your freezer.

5 Possible Reasons Why There’s Frost Building Up Inside Your Freezer

  1. Open Freezer Door

Have you left the freezer door open lately? Leaving the door to your freezer open will allow moist air to enter, leading to ice crystal formation, which causes frost to build up inside the freezer, and over time, increasingly inefficient cooling. 

  1. Storing Too Many Items

Overloading a freezer is one of the most common causes of excess frost buildup. Too many items crammed together can block air vents and restrict airflow.

Conversely, a freezer with too few items inside can also be susceptible to excess ice. Without enough cold food inside, too much warm air enters when the door is opened. This can also lead to frost on the interior walls.

Pro Tip: Try to keep your freezer about 1/2 – 3/4 full at all times to maintain a cold temperature without blocking air vents. And be sure to leave about an inch of space between your frozen foods and the freezer walls.

  1. Inspect Your Door Gaskets

If the freezer door is fully closed and nothing is obstructing it, the problem of frost building up inside the freezer could lie with the door’s faulty seal. Check the gaskets (the rubber sealing around the freezer door) to ensure that they create a complete seal all the way around the freezer. You want to look for any signs of tears, rips, or deformation. In addition, with the door of the unit closed, look for gaps between the seal and the case of the refrigerator or freezer. 

Pro Tip: For easy checking, use a flashlight placed inside the (closed) freezer to shine light through gaps in the seal. Turn on a flashlight, put it inside the compartment you are checking, and close the freezer door. If you see light shining through the seal when the freezer door is closed, you’ve found the problem.

  1. Door Gasket Problems

Any rips, tears, or gaps in the seals will allow moist air to enter the freezer, leading to the formation of ice crystals (frost) on food packaging and freezer walls, which will, in turn, cause cooling problems. The degree of ice build-up will vary, depending on the humidity level in the room and the severity of the gasket problems.

Remember we carry a wide variety of commonly-used parts right on our site, enabling you to fix your fridge as soon as possible.

  1. Defrost Cycle Not Working Properly

If you can see ice build-up on the back wall of the freezer, your refrigerator/ freezer may not be defrosting properly. When the defrost cycle is working correctly, the refrigerator/freezer’s cooling system pauses every 6 hours for 20 minutes, so that heaters behind the back wall can keep frost from building up in your freezer coils. Air can flow freely through the unit.

When the defrost cycle is not working as it should, ice builds up on the evaporator coils and eventually on the back freezer wall. Ice buildup prevents the movement of air throughout the refrigerator and freezer and interferes with efficient cooling. 

  1. Failing Defrost System Component

The defrost system comprises many components, and if any of these mechanisms fail, the cycle will not function properly, so the refrigerator/freezer will stop cooling. The defrost system is one of the more complicated systems in your refrigerator.

During proper operation, a mechanical timer or computer board will initiate the defrosting cycle, turning off cooling activity in the compressor and fans and turning on a heating element to melt ice buildup on the coils. A thermostat located on the coils tells the heater when the temperature has risen enough to melt all of the ice, thus turning off the heater and ending that cycle.  If any of these mechanisms fail, defrosting will not occur properly. 

If you want to keep frost from building up in your freezer, contact Appliance Parts King in the chat. We are here to help.